Sunanda Pushkar death case handed over to crime branch

NEW DELHI: One week after Sunanda Pushkar, 52-year-old wife of Union minister Shashi Tharoor, was found dead at a five-star hotel in Chanakyapuri, Delhi Police have announced that the case will now be probed by the crime branch. The mystery surrounding her death has deepened since her post-mortem report has indicated that she died of poisoning.

Asked why the case was transferred, a senior cop said while the local police had several other issues to handle, the crime branch didn't have to handle law and order issues. He added that they were anyway associated with the probe.

It will be interesting to see how crime branch deals with this case and whether it is able to find answers to the numerous questions that have been raised since Pushkar's death. The much talked about case of Anmol Sarna, who died after an LSD dose followed by a scuffle, has not seen much progress in crime branch.

On Wednesday evening, the south district officers formally handed over case-related documents and evidence , including post-mortem report, seizure memos and statements of people, besides CCTV footage to crime branch.

Officers in crime branch said they would start from scratch. "We are going to take a fresh look at the case and all angles will be investigated," said a senior officer, indicating that they may record the statements of people associated with Sunanda Pushkar all over again.

Tharoor's help, Narain, will be questioned again, sources said, as he was the last to see her alive in the morning. There are two other people in the ambit of the probe who had reportedly come to the hotel to visit Tharoor, sources said.

They said the autopsy report indicated a drug cocktail of Alprax and Excedrin, found in Sunanda's body, as the possible reasons for her death. Excedrin, which is prescribed for migraine, is a combination of acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine. The autopsy report also mentions a "deep teeth mark" on the edge of the left palm besides more than six injuries.

The SDM, who has recorded the statements of Sunanda's brother, son, father, husband and staff, has not asked the police to register an FIR in the case as no family member suspected any foul play.